Survival of the Smartest…

Chapter Four: Missing Opportunities…

Carlton was not normally one to stress or worry. True, if something affecting his career was intervening or hindering his progress, he'd aggressively defend his title and possible retaliate, but he'd never worry because he was sure he'd come out on top. Coincidently his cases were never a concern either due to his profound skills as a detective. Sure there'd been one or two cases which could have ended on a more positive note but Carlton couldn't allow that to affect him – otherwise his penchant for closing cases would be compromised by the depression that would take over.

That's not to say he didn't take his job seriously. The people he protected were his priority and it had come to a very close call a few times where he'd had to risk his career for the sake of protecting the innocent. The red tape that tied their hands was sometimes unrelenting and although he'd gotten this far, he wasn't sure that the next time he had to face it that he'd get away unscathed.

It was for this fact alone that he envied Shawn. Shawn, as a contracted agent, wasn't subjected to the rigorous demands and policies of the Santa Barbara Police Department. Most of that might be because the man chose not to employ the use of a firearm. Another fact which flummoxed the head detective. If Shawn chose to take his job seriously, and applied for the right to carry and use a firearm, Carlton imagined the red tape might possibly hinder the "psychic" too. Perhaps that was why he chose not to use them? It certainly wasn't because he couldn't. Carlton had witnessed first-hand the sharpshooting, pinpoint accuracy that the man was skilled with. Carlton was hard pressed to admit that Shawn could probably outshoot him in a competition. Which led him to believe that Shawn was hiding other skills too.

And his suspicions were further confirmed with the DET exams. Shawn had managed to score a 100% at only 15 years old where Carlton had only managed a 97.2%* at the start of his career. The information had ended his competitive streak with Juliet who'd scored a 98.4%* but his suspicions had piqued. He was even more convinced that Shawn was not psychic, just a genius hiding behind a mask. Not that you'd ever catch him admitting that.

However, it was for this reason that when Shawn's disappearance was suddenly connected to the Sociopathic case, Carlton found himself not completely surprised by the revelation. Carlton was familiar with the symptoms for ASPD, he'd been tested himself by his parents at various stages of his life and although he didn't have the personality disorder, he was very familiar with the behavioural patterns and quirks.

Shawn seemed to have a mild case of the disorder at his best guess. He'd suspected as much when he first met the guy which was why he'd slowly developed a patience for the man's antics. The "psychic" wasn't completely un-empathic, he seemed to genuinely care when the situation called for it. He wasn't completely full of himself either, Carlton had witnessed moments where Shawn had seemed troubled by the prospect of being wrong but instead of reacting with a temper or forcing the situation to fold to his will like most sociopaths do, he witnessed Shawn brush it off – with a fair amount of difficulty mind you – and move on to solve the puzzle.

Also, most Sociopaths can't seem to function without a high opinion of themselves, but although Shawn gloated his successes, Shawn also admitted his weaknesses. He claimed he wasn't athletically fit and he wasn't strong or as physically able as some of the men he knew – though considering Shawn's previous hidden truths regarding the sharpshooting and his DET results, and various exercises where he'd caught Shawn running for his life, Carlton was hard pressed to believe this statement too. In situations where he needed help of those natures, he'd always called for help – true it was usually an afterthought but at least he called. A true sociopath would have never admitted defeat and would have soldiered on to the point of arrogant dismissal of the dangerous consequences. However, Carlton was convinced this was a deflecting ploy to avoid being noticed for any other skills that Shawn could be hiding. Juliet had called him paranoid after he'd shared his thoughts and told him to grow up but Carlton just couldn't seem to let it go.

However, Shawn did fit the rest of the profile in a mild sense. He was reckless though never enough to really put himself in actual danger – if it got to that point, it was usually just bad luck on his part. He was irresponsible and always tried to worm his way out of doing the necessary procedures. He used fake names constantly, challenged authority at every turn he could and challenged social norms too. He had no respect for the right way of doing things and instead often broke into homes and crime scenes to get his "vibes" as he called them. He lied often to get what he wanted but he always did it blatantly so that it was obviously a lie. He had past difficulties with the law, took unnecessary risks and constantly risked Gus' career, integrity and comfort zones too, and failed to learn from the consequences of his actions.

A more serious symptom was child abuse/neglect. Carlton couldn't honestly say he had any evidence on this one. He hadn't ever witnessed Shawn around kids but had reason to believe the man wouldn't hurt a fly if he could help it. However, if Shawn had been neglected as a child it could explain a few things. But Shawn gave no indication that he'd ever suffered too greatly at the hands of his parents – no more than the average disciplining that was legal at the time of his childhood at any rate. Sure there were exaggerated childish responses but Carlton could see them for what they were.

Another symptom was poor relationships and although Shawn was ever the friendly guy, Carlton knew that he'd had a rocky relationship with his father in the past and still had moments at present. And Carlton knew first-hand the charm and wit that Shawn would employ and was also acquainted with the more hostile and aggressive side of Shawn from when he'd first brought him into the station to inquire about the stereo shop thefts. Shawn hadn't been jovial or pretending when he'd retaliated to Carlton's prodding questions then. His wit had been sharp and antagonistic. His words had razor sharp edges and had stung greatly and Carlton could tell that he had been holding back too. Though to be fair, Carlton had only ever seen that side of him a total of three times, once in the interrogation room and twice with the Yin-Yang cases. The last two were excusable considering the pressure the man had been under at the time, however, it was a chilling thing to see. A normally friendly and harmless personality turning into a deadly focussed and intelligent intent was something Carlton still couldn't prepare himself for. It had been one of the few times he'd been concerned.

There were only two previous moments where he remembered feeling that annoying niggling feeling called concern. The first one had been when Shawn had been kidnapped by a pair of mechanics intent on stealing from armoured vehicles. The not so cryptic message "binshot" Shawn had managed to send to Gus, coupled with the red substance he'd found at the crime scene had made it glaringly obvious that the man had been in medical trouble on top of the obvious. Reluctantly, Carlton had been forced to admit to himself that day that Shawn – and by proxy, Gus too – had become important to him. Not quite best-friend level, but not just annoying pains-in-the-asses either. He felt a certain responsibility toward them, as though they were his annoying kid brothers and unfortunately he had to watch out for them.

Carlton knew how bad a GSW (gunshot wound) could end up. The fact that they had no idea how bad it was, meant that they had to assume the worst case scenario. What had added insult to injury, was that it had been Carlton himself who had fobbed the case over to the Psych agency. His arrogance had almost cost him a friend – however loosely he used the term. Though, working with Henry Spencer – a trying time Carlton would rather forget – the two had solved the mysteries involved and found Shawn, a bit battered and in pain but alive and full of his usual sass no less. Coincidentally that had also been the time he'd witnessed Shawn's sharpshooting skills in action.

The second time he'd been concerned was when Mr Yin presented himself onto the scene. Mr Yang had been bad enough but Carlton hadn't quite accepted Shawn enough at this point to warrant worrying over the man's stability and well-being. Mr Yin however was an entirely different story. Juliet had gone missing that time and while he harboured no romantic feelings toward his partner, Carlton still felt his protective streak run wild at the thought of losing her to the hazards of the job and he also wanted to protect Shawn a little too. He'd seen how the events had affected the young psychic – he still didn't believe Shawn was psychic but could think of no other term that wasn't hostile – and could only watch as the man was pulled from one crime scene to another and taxed to mental and physical exhaustion.

He did not envy Shawn in that moment. The difficulty of having to make such a decision all while unravelling cryptic clues that had quite frankly had Carlton stumped from the word "Go", and all while trying to throw off an air of uncaring to try and trap the instigator behind it all was by far the most horrible of situations he could imagine. Carlton had been concerned for Juliet's safety and had also been concerned that the serial killer had targeted Shawn – a civilian no less – which had thrown the whole pattern of the Yin-Yang Serial Killers profiles off completely. Everything they'd known about that case had been turned on its head. He could only imagine the mental exhaustion and stress Shawn had been under in those moments, it was terrifying just watching from the side-lines.

That incident had been another notch in his belt to add to the reasons why he didn't think Shawn was a psychic. The stress had forced Shawn to think quickly and there were quirks that were unconsciously omitted in his little acts of "psychic-ness" that proved to Carlton that the man was - most of the time - being overdramatic. Carlton hadn't missed a single tell – or lack thereof – but Shawn was too good to leave any actual hard evidence.

However, if he couldn't find Shawn in this new case, none of that would matter much.

He pushed the annoying feeling of concern away and focussed on his job. Currently he was on his way to visit the crazy doctor's assistant from before the guy fixated on sociopaths. Her name was Dr. Amanda Sadlington and was currently a counsellor at a reputable psychotherapy firm in downtown Santa Barbara. Her name had shown up in his perusal of Dr. Herbert's file. She'd been cleared of any implications to the illegal experiments, due to her resignation after his tantrum over the revocation of his license which occurred before he was arrested. She'd decided that enough was enough and she resigned from his employ and moved on to therapy work. She apparently finished her degree under a Dr. Thomas Edington who then referred her to the firm she was working with now. Her case studies were average for her field and she held no other incriminating history other than her work association with Dr. Herbert. Carlton had a feeling she was still regretting ever having accepted the position as his assistant.

He'd called ahead just before he left the department and asked the male receptionist who answered to clear a spot in her diary for his meeting with her, reciting his badge number and that it was official police business. The traffic was normal for lunchtime on a Monday, if a little heavy on South Street but he suspected that was due to the roadworks going on in that area.

He was halfway past the junction when his phone began buzzing. His built in Bluetooth device kicked in and the ringing tone sounded through his radio speakers instead. It was new car, four by four, royal blue with all the mod cons. His last car had been totalled but the insurance had paid out big thus enabling him to purchase this beauty – under the condition that he try harder to keep it safe and road worthy. He was quite proud of it actually. Not quite as proud as he was of his Ford Fusion though. Ironically, it had been trashed thanks to the efforts of the person he was currently trying to recover but in all fairness, Shawn hadn't been completely at fault for that one. Carlton was sure that even Shawn couldn't plan to be chased across the highway on his motorcycle and then have his rear tyre shot out just at the right moment when Carlton had been driving the opposite way to investigate the disturbance, thus leading Shawn's bike to lose control and crash right into Carlton's new car. Carlton's written recorded judgement of the use of firearms in retaliation may not have been very accurate. The excessive use of ammo however wasn't overlooked by the Chief who recognised the stroke of bad luck and frustration for what it was but still had to reprimand her employee for policy and protocol sake. He hit the 'Answer' button built into his radio, grinning to himself despite the situation.

"Lassiter." He answered, knowing that whoever had his number would know who he was anyway so he didn't bother with any fluffy niceties.

"Carlton it's Juliet, I've got some background information on our suspect." Juliet's voice replied. Carlton knew why she didn't go straight into detail. He could have someone in the car, or he might not be in a good position to hear her so she waited for him to give her the go ahead.

"All clear O'Hara, fill me in." He replied as he turned east on the junction and the powered up onto the freeway.

"He is one sick SOB sir, his obsession with Sociopaths is beyond that of a healthy person. I think he might be mentally ill. If we agitate him sir… the consequences for his victims could be dire." Juliet reported with a note of trepidation in her voice. One of the victims was her boyfriend and the thought of him coming to any harm scared her. Carlton mentally commended her for keeping her cool up 'til now. "His brief for the experiment in question," Juliet continued, "states that for his experiment he intended to use; 'two classes of psyche; High Functioning Anti-Social Psychopathic Disorder patients and the average human psyche.' He plans to put them both; 'in life or death scenarios that will threaten their survival.' He's using them as lab rats. He's not just kidnapped Sociopaths. He's got other people too to use as a comparison. Our victim base just got bigger." Juliet reeled off. Carlton swore softly to himself. This didn't really change their attack plan though so it was a minor setback. He could roundup some administration workers to go through the list of victims while he continued his plan of action. The victims were the priority here but finding them came first and he had to know where to look. To do that he had to get more information on the suspect and his current lead is Dr Sadlington.

"Ok O'Hara listen carefully, this is what I want you to do;" He began, "Get me a working list of potential victims on the go. Ask Jason and Kim in admin to go through our current list of sociopath victims and create a timeline from the first disappearance that was likely to be involved in this case to the latest and then cross check that time line with the other missing persons who are likely to be involved. Don't ask me how you'll parameter the second list, figure something out." He took a breath before continuing. "Meanwhile I want you to look further into the incident that got Herbert incarcerated. Look for any clues or patterns that might lead us to where he might be now. Get me a list of possible locations to investigate. Report back in an hour." He reeled off, his detective mind shifting up a gear at the escalation of pressure. He hoped to all things holy that the doctor hadn't finished collecting his samples before he started his experiment.

"Yes sir. O'Hara out." Juliet replied and she hung up the phone. Carlton drove along in silence for the next ten minutes, his mind a whir of activity. No doubt Juliet was informing Henry of her latest update too. He trusted Henry to do anything and everything if it was his son in trouble. So he trusted the fact that Henry would bail on the 'previous employment' investigation he'd sent him and McNab on and go straight to his own sources. He hated when his team went rogue but he had to admit that Henry had a way of getting information. It was standard protocol to have a civilian – even if he was an ex detective – stationed with a police officer while helping with an investigation. Shawn had disregarded that protocol too many times to count and the paperwork alone would deforest this side of America. He could understand why Chief Vick wrote in a clause on their agreement contract to authorise minor solo sleuthing on their behalf. However, Henry wasn't employed by Psych so wasn't under the same freedom. The argument that would follow though wasn't worth the fight to follow protocol and if memory served him right, Henry had found a lot of convenient loopholes when Shawn had been kidnapped the first time, so he was sure that Henry would loophole himself out of trouble again this time.

Carlton wasn't worried about that. He was, however, concerned about what the older Spencer would find and what he'd do with that information. So far he'd been in a sharing mood but Carlton could tell that at some point, when it seemed like the case was standing stagnant, Henry might just go off and do his own thing without the help of SBPD's finest. In that case, Carlton feared that worry would not be a strong enough word to encompass the dread of the repercussions that could entail. For him and for everyone else involved.

He pulled up to the psychotherapy firm four minutes later with a sigh. There wasn't much he could do at this stage so he put it to the back of his mind and took in the small squat buildings. It looked like a retirement home at first glance. Carlton parked near the middle of the carpark where there were only three spaces available and then exited the car.

He took a moment to admire the shiny newness of the vehicle and felt his proud grin return.

He held out the keys to the car and with a serene smile blipped the central locking system to lock the car. At that moment two things happened. First, the sound of his car alarm and locking system echoed across the car park, he sharp chirping sound significant in the quiet area. Then, at that very same moment, the building he had been admiring before he stepped out of his brand new car suddenly exploded in a huge buffeting roar of fire and debris. Carlton was thrown backwards, away from the explosion and landed on his back, scraping his shoulder and upper back on the asphalt and leaving him with a mild case of road rash. The concussive moment took him several minutes to first; comprehend what had happened and then; a further few more minutes to get up despite his injuries and actually see what had happened.

There was no roof left, the front of the building was strewn across the car park and there was a raging inferno inside of what was still standing. Nothing inside the building could have survived that blast. Quick as he could, he moved to his car to radio in for emergency services. So focussed on the emergency was he, that he didn't notice the large concrete beam that had landed on his bonnet and the bonnet of the car next to him until after he'd hung up to the emergency services.

His face dropped. His second brand new car was also now a lump of scrap metal indirectly caused by Shawn Spencer.

Carlton promptly lost the will the live.

Shawn's ears were burning. Someone was clearly talking about him and he hoped so because that meant that they'd finally figured out he was missing. Though how much faith he put in the SBPD actually finding him was a little diluted. However, once Henry Spencer found out that he hadn't been ditched by his son on their camping trip, Shawn had no problems believing that his father would be on the trail and possibly be the one to rescue him. He hadn't ever really said it, but Henry was Shawn's favourite superhero. Who else would think to use their endless horrifying experiences on the police force to teach and prepare his kid to survive those very same scenarios? Henry had saved his son countless times before this through the lessons he'd taught his son as a kid.

Shawn decided that if he survived this ordeal, he'd tell his father of his feelings in that respect. However, that surviving thing he was talking about just now, Shawn wasn't very sure if it was going to happen. For three days, Shawn had been cut off from the world. Two of which were spent in a concrete coffin with no food or water and Shawn was both very hungry and very thirsty right now. Anything drinkable or edible would do.

He stumbled along down a narrow passage way blindly, hoping to come across some exit or store room where the workers of this old factory might have used it as a lunch room. Mmm. Lunch sounded really good…

Focus Shawn!

Odd, that sounded like his dad's voice. Crap. He couldn't even escape the condescending tone of his father even when kidnapped. Wait. Wasn't he all 'pro-dad' just now?

Shawn paused in his ambling and shook his head. Something wasn't right. His thoughts were jumbling around and that scared him. He was always a sharp and clear thinker. It's how he worked. Something was messing with his brain.

His stomach growled painfully and he clutched his abdomen. It was logical to think that the lack of food and water was affecting him mentally as well as physically but Shawn was absolutely confident that this jumbled thinking was actually and external influence. Something, a gas or aerosol, was affecting his mind. Quickly he glanced around trying to pinpoint anything that could be leaking noxious gasses into the vicinity and to his surprise, found a lunchbox sitting on the floor a few yards in front of him. It was open, and food was spilling out over the edges. Pickle sandwiches, cheese cakes, apples, bananas, chocolates… his mouth watered. His stomach clenched and he took a step forward but his previous thoughts came back harshly.

Something was affecting his ability to think. He knew it. Could feel it. His breathing was wrong, laboured. His pulse was fast and painful in his temples. His eyesight blurred slightly. This wasn't just hunger or thirst related. He was suffocating slowly. How long had he been feeling like this? He couldn't remember exactly, and that scared him. He could always remember. It was why he was in this trouble to begin with.

What if the food was poisoned too? Or was this one of the tests he was told about when he'd first been kidnapped?

His thoughts were fogging over again and Shawn decided that he preferred being able to think more than filling his gut and his lungs with chemicals that could kill him. He stumbled back the way he came, moving quickly toward where he remembered it being safe to breathe. Eventually he felt the pressure in his chest loosen and his head felt a lot clearer. It was at this point that Shawn knew for a fact that something had been cloying the air in that corridor. His stomach cramped again, reminding him that the decision to leave that food behind wasn't his best choice but really, could he trust anything in this place? Things were beginning to look rather bleak at that moment.

Was the test supposed to test his ability to trust his captors word? Would he do that regardless of the tests? No! So why trust it now? He couldn't. Could he even trust that this supposed exit was actually an exit or just a metaphor for the afterlife? His only chance was to hope his father was on the trail and coming in hot.

He just had to hold out until then.

Shawn hung his head and bit back the tears that threatened to fall.

"Dad… please…" His whispered plea felt pitiful but that was exactly how he felt right then.

"Help me…"

Dr Richard Herbert slowly shook his head in disappointment. He sat in an office chair clad in normal civilian wear underneath a rather dirty and worn looking lab coat. His glasses perched on the end of his hooked nose reflected the many screens before him.

"Subject 25 shows disappointing lack of logical reasoning when faced with the opportunity for food over a slight threat of asphyxiation. My previous assumption of his ASPD level will be reviewed based on further analysis." He spoke chillingly into his Dictaphone then clicked the recording device off. He leaned further forward in his chair and watched as Shawn move cautiously down one of the many corridors that had been set up.

Richard had been planning this experiment for over twenty years. This building had been his biggest lucky break, an old factory with its own mine attached. The tunnels and corridors extended deep into the mountain side and underground and gave him plenty of play space to create his living nightmare. And even better, when the factory had been closed down and abandoned, to prevent trespassers getting stuck and lost, they concreted all the exits. A little heavy duty machinery on one of them and all his tools and equipment and Richard had his little play house of horror ready and waiting. The only hitch in his plans was when he'd been dumping the excess machinery and gotten caught doing it. His next step had been to go out and gather his lab-rats but he'd been apprehended before he'd dumped his excess machinery instead and all his plans were put on hold until he managed to get out again.

He'd rigged the place up pretty good too. Hidden traps, both fatal and injure-only types, were set up all over the place. The people he'd picked too, some forty people in total, were the best of what he could research on. The top genes only. Sports people, health experts, top psychologists and of course, his prized candidates; sociopaths.

Although he did have one handicap in the maze too. He'd come across her by accident while looking for the boy he'd been interested years ago in Santa Barbara. Terry Doherty.

She was his anomaly. His fluke. The spontaneous quirk he'd added on a whim. She was diagnosed as autistic and had ASPD. And he was interested to see what that combination would produce in his little experiment. Her symptoms were rare in one person and he just couldn't turn away from the opportunity.

However…

He flicked his eyes over to another screen and watched as the girl in question huddled in a small nook, trying to hide from the reality he'd thrown her into. Richard had to admit that he was rather underwhelmed wither performance. He'd had such high hopes for her. Now it just looked like she was going to die embarrassingly and never understand why or how.

Shame. His charts would never reflect her existence in his experiment.

His gaze flicked back to Subject 25. Now this was a promising candidate. However, Shawn's failure at taking the food was disappointing and did not support his theory. However, there were bound to be unpredictables and anomalies and Richard was ever the scientist if nothing else.

And he would record the data regardless of whether he liked the results or not.

Another screen to his left suddenly lit up and Richard's gaze swung across to the newly live streaming data upon it. He watched as a trail of passengers from the Boston flight flowed into the arrivals lounge. He watched avidly as the flow of people slowed and then trickled to only a few.

Then he saw her.

Radiant as ever, older now but still the most uptight, obtuse woman he'd ever met.

Maddie Spencer.

Richard grinned wildly and moved across to his laptop.

He had an email to write.

A/N: 8 pages! I've had literally no time to write this but I've managed to anyway so how's that for priorities? Let me know what you think !